Local 10
A newspaper with issues
TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2009
Beefing up security at home FROM WASTE PAGE 9 (GEM) is expected to continue handling the dirty job of transporting hazardous material waste. Currently contracted by City Hall, GEM is slated to receive a new agreement to continue providing services for the next two fiscal years for a combined total of $500,000. City Hall generates haz mat waste through emergency response, in-house activities, and from its Household and Small Business Hazardous Waste Collection Center, a city staff report stated. The center is operated by the Office of Sustainability and the Environment, processing an average of 160,000 pounds of waste from 4,000 residents every year. The number is expected to rise to 200,000 pounds from 5,000 residents a year within the next two fiscal years. Waste collected from the center includes paint, batteries and fluorescent lamps. “As the incumbent contractor, GEM has demonstrated consistent and reliable environmental services, and proper management and transportation of hazardous waste utilizing well qualified and professional staff,” Dean Kubani, the director of the Office of Sustainability and the Environment, stated in his report. CHANGES IN POLICE UNION CONTRACT
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The City Council is expected to approve a change in its contract with the Santa Monica Police Officers Association to raise the cap on City Hall’s contribution toward the medical insurance plan.
The change, which would increase the cap for medical insurance premiums to 12 percent, is expected to cost City Hall no more than $358,620 for the upcoming fiscal year and up to $399,900 for fiscal 201011. CONTINUING OFFICE SPACE LEASE
The Code Compliance Division will stay in its offices at 525 Broadway for another few months as it waits for its new home at the Civic Center Parking Structure, which is under construction. City Hall previously leased spaces at the office building for CityTV and Information Systems Department, both of which have moved to other locations in Santa Monica. The only other department — Code Compliance — will have to remain as tenant improvement construction work continues at the parking structure on Fourth Street and Olympic Drive. The two-month extension in the lease will cost City Hall nearly $20,000. MORE MONEY FOR CITY HALL
Approximately $63,750 in no-match federal funds is slated to come to City Hall for local homeland security efforts. The money will be used to buy hazardous material interoperability equipment. The Santa Monica Fire Department’s Hazardous Material Response Truck is the official regional L.A. County responder to major hazardous material incidents involving terrorist attacks and weapons of mass destruction. melodyh@smdp.com